Imperialism: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Realities

Imperialism is a territorial process driving international conflict and economic exploitation both within and between nation states. How should imperialism be understood today, and how might an understanding of its mechanisms contribute to the analysis of contemporary political crises and help to shape appropriate policy responses? I contend that the idea of classical imperialism has been superseded by a conception of neo-imperialism, which is under challenge in an emerging bifurcated world order. Under neo-imperialism, dominant states develop their transnational interests based on proposals by coalitions of domestic and foreign elites-military and security, ideological and religious, political and national, as well as economic. Future trajectories may take the form of ultra-imperialism or super-imperialism or, consequent on the rise of challenger states, facilitate a move to socialist globalisation.